Florida State rallies in fourth quarter to defeat Auburn, win BCS title

This time, it was Florida State that pulled the rabbit out of its hat, scoring with 13 seconds remaining on a Jameis Winston touchdown pass to give the Seminoles their third national championship 34-31.

The BCS era ended in a thriller.

Three touchdowns were scored in the final five minutes before the Seminoles pulled out a dramatic victory in the Rose Bowl on Winston’s 2-yard touchdown pass to Kelvin Benjamin sealed the win. Winston was named the Offensive MVP of the game.

With FSU trailing 24-20 and time running out on the Seminoles’ season, freshman Kermit Whitfield returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown to give the ’Noles a 27-24 lead.

But Auburn, which pulled out two victories on miracle plays at the end of the season, weren’t done. Tre Mason scored on a 37-yard touchdown run to put the Tigers back on top.

Florida State got the ball back on its 20 with 1:11 remaining and drove the length of the field to give the school its first national title since 1999. FSU’s victory ended a run of seven consecutive BCS titles by Southeastern Conference schools.

Though the Seminoles breezed through the season by going 13-0 and winning games by an average margin of 42 points, questions lingered about their strength of schedule, their relative lack of stiff competition in the Atlantic Coast Conference compared with the weekly rigors endured by SEC members.

Still others wondered how FSU would respond under pressure for the first time.

The Seminoles answered their skeptics with an electric win, coming from behind to knock off Auburn.

The Seminoles scored on their opening drive when Roberto Aguayo connected on a 35-yard field goal. But it didn’t take long for Auburn to accomplish something no Florida State opponent had managed to do since September: take the lead on the Seminoles.

Tre Mason hauled in Nick Marshall’s short pass and ran it in untouched for a 12-yard touchdown that put the Tigers on top 7-3.

The Seminoles led the nation in scoring defense during the season. But Auburn was undaunted, and when Tigers receiver Melvin Ray ended up all alone in the FSU secondary, Marshall found him for a 50-yard touchdown pass that put the Seminoles in a 14-3 hole early in the second quarter.

Winston and the explosive FSU offense, meanwhile, looked like a different unit than the one that turned the scoreboard into a pinball counter over the course of the season.

Florida State was forced to settle for a field goal when its opening drive stalled, and its only first down over their three possessions was the result of a personal foul penalty against Auburn.

Auburn, not noted for its defense — and its below-average pass defense, especially — managed to hold Winston and the Seminoles air attack in check for the early part of the game. Winston looked out of whack in the first half, more like most any freshman quarterback than the Heisman winner that he is. Winston completed only 6 of his 15 first-half passes for 62 yards.

Not only were his passes off target, but he coughed up the ball with a fumble.

The Tigers expanded their lead to 21-3 on Marshall’s 4-yard run. It was the first rushing touchdown allowed all season by the Seminoles’ first-team defense.